Study: Online harassment, victimization common

Findings from a recent study co-authored by a Shippensburg University professor show an increased number of social network users experience online harassment or victimization.

The study, titled "Security in the 21st Century: Examining the Link Between Online Social Network Activity, Privacy, and Interpersonal Victimization" focused on online survey results from college students from the University of Cincinnati.

The research was co-authored by Billy Henson, assistant professor of criminal justice at Shippensburg University, Bradford W. Reyns of Weber State University, and Bonnie S. Fisher of University of Cincinnati.

Negative experiences, Henson said, were more common than what most people realize. "Within our sample of college students, about 40 percent had experienced some form of cybercrime victimization," Henson said.

The most common experience was online harassment and unwanted contact, he said. That includes unwanted sexual advances and threats of violence towards users.

However, Henson and his colleagues also found common factors between those being targeted, including adding strangers as friends, having multiple social network accounts, and frequently posting on social network accounts.

"If someone is going to use a social network, the best means of protecting themselves from potential online victimization is to set their account to private, deny friend requests from strangers, and limit the amount of personal identifying information posted on the account," Henson said.

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The growth of social networks opened up a whole new world of possibilities for crime and victimization, he said.

"Online social networks have grown exponentially over the last few years, and it has clearly become part of our everyday lives. At the same time, it has also become an arena for new forms of victimization," Henson said. "However, from a criminal justice standpoint, there is much we still don't understand. And, unfortunately, this is also true for many social network users."

Henson said a similar survey was administered at Shippensburg University and he expects some research articles out later this year.

In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the Communications Decency Act. This act, originally written to protect the public from harassing phone calls, was rephrased to include any telecommunications device. In Pennsylvania, the state constitution was amended to include crimes of cyber stalking and cyber harassment.

What you can do

Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Billy Henson said research shows several common factors among people harassed online. He offers these tips to avoid being targeted.

- Set your account to private

- Don't accept friend requests from strangers

- Don't post personal identifying information

- Avoid having multiple social networking accounts

- Limit the number of updates and photos you post to your account

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Lauren Cappuccio can be contacted at lcappuccio@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4754.

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